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Girlfriend says George Zimmerman pointed shotgun at her

MIKE SCHNEIDER, Associated Press

Posted:
11/19/2013 12:31:41 AM MST

This image provided by the Seminole County Sheriff`s Office shows former neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman after he was arrested Monday, Nov. 18, 2013, in Apopka, Fla. Authorities said they responded to a disturbance call at a house earlier in the day. (AP Photo/Seminole County Sheriff`s Office)

APOPKA, Fla. (AP) - George Zimmerman was charged with assault Monday after his girlfriend called deputies to the home where they were living and claimed he pointed a shotgun at her during an argument, authorities said.

The girlfriend, Samantha Scheibe, called 911 in the early afternoon to say that Zimmerman had smashed a glass table, threatened her with the shotgun and ultimately pushed her out of the house, according to an arrest report. After pushing her out, Zimmerman barricaded the door with furniture and refused to leave, saying that he would talk to police by phone, authorities said.

Deputies used a key provided by Scheibe to unlock the door and they were able to push through the barricade of items, Chief Deputy Dennis Lemma said at a news conference hours after the arrest.

"She was very concerned for her own safety especially having the weapon pointed at her and then being pushed out," Lemma said.

Lemma says Zimmerman was compliant and unarmed when deputies came to the house.

"The easiest way to describe it is rather passive. Clearly, he's had the opportunity to encounter situations similar to this in the past," he said of the former neighborhood watch volunteer who was acquitted earlier this year on criminal charges in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.

Zimmerman was charged with domestic aggravated assault with a weapon, domestic battery and criminal mischief. His first appearance was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. He will be housed in a single-person cell and guards will check on him hourly, Lemma added.

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Scheibe told deputies that the ordeal started with a verbal argument and that she asked Zimmerman to leave the house. Her account in the arrest report says he began packing his belongings, including a shotgun and an assault rifle. She says she began putting his things in the living room and outside the house, and he became upset. At that point, the report says, he took the shotgun out of its case.

"Scheibe then advised Zimmerman that she was calling the Police because she was nervous about why he pulled out the Shotgun. Zimmerman then pointed the Shotgun at Scheibe for a minute, and asked her if she really wanted to do that," the report states. "Scheibe stepped back, at which time Zimmerman smashed a glass coffee table, belonging to Scheibe, with the butt of the Shotgun."

Zimmerman told his girlfriend to leave and smashed a pair of her sunglasses as she walked toward the front door, the report says. Scheibe told deputies that he pushed her out of the house when she got close to the door.

Benjamin Crump, the attorney for the Martin family, was at Harvard Law School Monday with the teen's mother Sybrina Fulton to speak at symposium about his legacy and self-defense laws.

Crump said they found out about Zimmerman's arrest from television reports. He said the news of the arrest didn't affect their mood because they are focused on discussing ways to reform self-defense laws.

"They're focused on how we can all better deal with conflict resolution. But there is a certain irony in that while they were doing that, at basically the same time that incident was happening with their son's killer," Crump said in a phone interview.

Neither Mark O'Mara nor Don West - Zimmerman's defense attorneys during the trial of the Martin case - is currently representing him, said a spokesman for O'Mara.

A message seeking comment wasn't immediately returned by Zimmerman's brother Robert Zimmerman, Jr.

Scheibe's neighbors said it was frightening to learn that Zimmerman had been living nearby.

"Just when you thought you heard the last of George Zimmerman," said neighbor Catherine Cantrell. She said she had twice seen a man who looked like Zimmerman get out of a truck that's been in the driveway for nearly a month. The truck parked there Monday appeared to be the same one that reporters have seen Zimmerman drive previously.

"I'm in absolute shock. He was never outside. It's not like he was out flaunting around," she said.

Cantrell said Scheibe was very sweet and quiet.

Sarah Tyler, 26, also lives across the street from the tan stucco house on a cul-de-sac street of single family homes in Apopka, about 15 miles northwest of Orlando.

"It's kind of frightening," she said.

Zimmerman, 30, was acquitted in July of all charges in the shooting of Trayvon Martin. The death of the black teenager, who was unarmed, touched off a nationwide debate about race and self-defense. Zimmerman, who identifies himself as Hispanic, has said he shot the 17-year-old to defend himself during a fight in February 2012 inside a gated community in Sanford, just outside Orlando.

He wasn't charged until 44 days after the shooting, leading to protests nationwide from people who believed he should have been immediately arrested. The case sparked accusations that Zimmerman had racially profiled Martin, and demonstrations broke out again after his acquittal. Federal authorities are now reviewing the case the see if Martin's civil rights were violated.

Zimmerman has had other brushes with the law since his acquittal.

Zimmerman and his estranged wife were involved in a domestic dispute in September just days after Shellie Zimmerman filed divorce papers, but police later said no charges were filed against either of them because of a lack of evidence.

Zimmerman has also been pulled over three times for traffic stops since his acquittal. He was ticketed for doing 60 mph in a 45 mph zone in Lake Mary in September and was given a warning by a state trooper along Interstate 95 for having a tag cover and windows that were too darkly tinted. He was also stopped near Dallas in July and was given a warning for speeding.

In 2005, Zimmerman had to take anger management courses after he was accused of attacking an undercover officer who was trying to arrest Zimmerman's friend.

Later that year, Zimmerman's former fiancee filed for a restraining order against him, alleging domestic violence. Zimmerman responded by requesting a restraining order against her. Both requests were granted. No criminal charges were filed.

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Associated Press writers Kyle Hightower in Orlando and Suzette Laboy in Miami contributed to this report.

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